Why this is incorrect?

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Does the event refers to the past?this supposed to be a concept question, could you please explain me why is incorrect?I was said to take care with my expression.What did it mean?many thanks to you all, and merry christmass

Avangi · Accepted Answer

The devil is in the details. All of your phrases have one or two small details which are incorrect.

The advice to "take care" implies that you make these mistakes through carelessness. Do you think that's the case, or do you simply need to study harder?

In this case, "your expression" is "your writing."

If the "concept question" is "Does the event refers to the past?" and you wrote this question, the error is that you need to use the bare infinitive of the main verb "to refer." The subject-verb agreement is done by the auxilliary verb, "to do."

If you transform the question into an indicative sentence, you have, "The event does refer to the past." The singular subject "event" takes the singular verb "does."

Perhaps you're thinking the singular subject "event" takes the singular verb "refers." But you must learn that when using the auxilliary "to do," it does the job of agreeing, and the infinitive "refer" must be used for the main verb. Unfortunately, it's the same as the third person plural form in present tense, so you may think you've made a mistake.

Does this sound right to you? "The event does refers to the past." Does this sound right to you? "Does this sounds right to you?"

It refers.
They refer.
("refer" changes)
It does refer.
They do refer.
("refer" does not change)
Does it refer?
Do they refer?
("refer" does not change.)

Best wishes, - A.

Irson · Answer

Thanks for your complex explanation.It helped me a lot.

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